Dear Friends, from MelodyL
 

Hi. MELODY here. I am in a nursing home ok n Brooklyn. Got hit by a car last week. Using my Kindle. Fire. They put a metal rod in my hip. Too much pain. Did a bit of rehab but it continues Monday. I am alone. Alan not coping at all. He can take care of himself but not me. I am at Hahm Solomon .Rehab in Brooklyn NY. Got hit by a car in snow as torn last Saturday and was operated the following day. Been in this nursing home since last Thursday. Can use some good cheer. Didn't know where else to post. Thanks much.

Melody

room . Is. 619b

Heck of a way to spend the Holidays, wishing you a very speedy recovery.

I have Melody's permission to provide her address and name for anyone here who wishes to correspond with her during this trying, painful and lonely time, privately.

Just PM me and I will give you that info.

Dear Melody

So sorry to hear of your accident, especially at this time of year. I do hope you are getting good care in the nursing home and are able to recover soon.

I've adapted a little rhyme I came across recently to bring you a smile:


Wishing you good healing and wishing Alan is managing okay on his own without you.

:hug: bluesfan

Melody, I am sorry to read that.

I wish you all the best for a speedy recovery.

:hug:

Dear Melody,
Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I send you lots of love and healing light.
Carol:hug:

Bless Your Heart ! So sorry
 

wow....I'm sorry to hear about you getting hit by a car. It was pretty slippery driving here that day. Im sorry to hear that you are in pain. I hope you start feeling better soon and heal quickly.

Oh Dear Melody,

I do hope you recover quickly. We will be praying for you and hope you give us updates on your condition as often as you can. It will take time and patience, but you are strong and will get through this just fine.

Anita

Now I don't feel so alone. Thanks to you all. I am going to pick all your brains. Never fractured a hip before. I HAVE had told us before. Last time was in 1999. They had to put it back in bed as use I could not per. But eventually all was corrected. This time did not go to bathroom for seven days after accident
Had enema. Finally went but now have terrible gas because I cant move. Roll over or do anything. Painful hip with metal rod.

Doing rehab today. Wish I could walk and get the juices moving at again. They will probably put foley back in if I don't per soon. This is a nightmare

Melody

So sorry to hear of your accident. Wishing you a speedy and successful rehab and recovery.

So sorry to hear about your accident. I will keep you in my prayers. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

im flat on my back too....got very sick at 8 pm out of nowhere.....cant breath, woozy and cold. i have the medications here including a nebulizer, that you would get in the hospital. i hope this passes as quickly as it came
on

:hug:Meody:hug:

I'm so sorry to learn about your accident. Sounds horrendous and I know you're ready to get back home. Hopefully that will be soon.

Thinking about you both, Melody and Echoes today! :hug:

sorry to hear you're sick! are you on the mend? hope all goes better now!

best wishes,
antonina

Dear MelodyL, I've been looking for an update from you. I'm hoping 'no news is good news'.

Isn't it always the 'small things' that make life so miserable with a major accident or illness, like the constipation and then the gas? That's not to downplay the misery of a fractured hip.

But for me the very worst 'small thing' is the foley catheter. I had to have surgery three times in 10 months that involved wearing the catheter for a week each time. I felt suicidal by the end of each week. Just trying to sleep through the last day so I could get it out!

Let us know how you're doing at this point. Are you in rehab now?

Hugs, ElaineD

yes i am doing better now...thank you very much!

Foley is gone. I peed. Thank god. Also pooped. Am doing rehab. So painful with titanium rod in my hip. Hard to learn to use muscles again. Doing OT and PT.

How long is recovery from broken hip?

Melody

I'm so sorry to hear about your accident Melody. I know a broken hip can be a very tough recovery. Of course, just like anything else, the recovery period can vary depending on the individual and the complexity of the injury. I'm sending you all the good vibes I can muster today :grouphug:

Yes, MelodyL, it is hard to regain the use of muscles that weakened while you were recovering from surgery. And the pain doesn't help, either.

Do not push yourself beyond what your PT and OT professionals require. I have been recovering from back surgery in October, and had almost 3 months of complete inactivity BEFORE the surgery, and then a month afterwards. So I had lots to regain.

I am beginning to notice increased strength. I have braces for my profound PN, so exercising require great effort on my part. I go to the pool, and also use the Nu-Step. Last weekend we went to a local Mall and I walked around the Mall with my husband. Stopping frequently to rest.

Slowly but surely you will get better. And remember, you have had a traumatic event (being hit by a car). I would see my therapist to discuss any anxiety that was lurking......

Keep us posted!

Hugs,, ElaineD

Hi. Doing my absolute best to be positive. Can't wait till this is over. Thanks to all of you for kind words.

Melody

Hi MelodyL

Just checking in - wondering how your rehab is going and hoping you are doing okay and due to head home soon.

Hi all. I was discharged today. Hopefully I will get home P/T.

Alan however is not so lucky. After signing me out, (he is recovering from the flu). he got so weak they had to take him to the hospital.

I called. His labs are good and they have him on fluids. They took him last week when the same thing happened but they released him the next morning. He had some case of the flu. I had my girlfriends go up to my apartment and check on him last week and they called 911.

They checked on him last night. They gave him juice. It's like he was hit by a freight train. And no, he doesn't get a flu shot. He was told he can't get one because of auto immune and the fact that his mom had Guillian Barre syndrom years ago.

Anyway, just spoke to him. He's okay. I'm dead tired because I came home to a house that you wouldn't believe.

Anyway, did the cleaning and now I'm bushed. Sciatica is killing me more than my hip surgery. This stinks.

Anyway just wanted to update you all and thank you for all y our kind words

sorry about your accident and glad that you are back home-----sending healing thoughts your way :)

Thanks for the update Melody. I'm continuing to wish the best for the both of you.

Well, Alan is very slowly coming back. This was some flu. It's all over Brooklyn. He is in bed but gets up to eat. I am giving him gatorade and water and food (with protein). I move his arms and legs. He is SO exhausted.

My visiting nurse came to evaluate ME yesterday. I asked her to please check his vitals. She was kind enough to do so. Everything was fine. He is just so tired from the flu. She said to keep doing what I'm doing. So does Dr. Fred.

So I shall continue. No one to take care of me. His family doesn't want to be bothered. They actually told him this. I had asked them (while I was in the nursing home) to please go up to check on him (because I hadn't heard from him) and didn't know what to think.). He has cousins who don't live far away so all they had to do was come to my facility, pick up the house key, go up to my place and holler out "Alan, it's your cousins, Melody sent us to check on you, just to make sure". But his sister refused to call the family. She said "I'll pay for a cleaning service". I had told her I didn't want a cleaning service, I just wanted his family to go check on him". She refused.

She actually spoke to him the next day and told him as much. She couldn't care less. She said so. So that relationship is over.

Oh well.

All on me and thank god I have the friends I have. They helped me get rid of 10 black garbage bags. They were up here last night. I have better friends than family. How sad is that?

Melody

Hi Melody

I'm glad to hear you're back to your strong, feisty self but really you should be taking it a bit easier if you can. Aren't you able to access some sort of home help service to take some of the load off you for caring for Alan? Or what about the driver of the car that hit you - doesn't his insurance cover liability for providing home support for you while you recover?

Please don't overdo it and set back your own recovery.

You are absolutely right in evrything you said only it doesn't work that way. I only recently had the visiting nurse to come and evaluate me for home P/T and visiting nurse. I got approved. That means nothing. I am waiting for someone to call me to arrange appointments to come here. I called today and was told "Someone will be calling you".

So it's all on me. Taking care of Alan (who is so tired I can't tell you).
He has no fever, never had one. No swollen anything. The nurse examined him, his vitals were good, she just said 'give him fluids and feed him protein".

It's been over 2 weeks. He just got up to come into the kitchen to eat something then went right back to bed.

I texted Dr. Fred who said 'Might be Epstein Barr". That's Mono. I know about this.

35 years ago, Alan was stricken by a FEVER OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN. He was tired but he had this FEVER. They put him in the hospital in isolation and because it had no name, they sent him home for 2 months and he sat there until he got better. I know this virus can linger in the body.

He last took a blood test when they took him to Lutheran last week.

Here are some of the results. If any of you think any of these things can be Epstein Barr, please tell me. (not that I can do anything but I just want to know). I'm just typing the ones that kicked out as abnormal.

And I just asked him if he had a sore throat, pain on his left side, tenderness on his left side, swollen glands, etc etc. He said NO.

CBC with differential
White Blood Cell count - 7.2
Red Blood Cell Count 3.88
Hemoglobin 10.7
Hematocrit - 33.3
Neutophils - 77
Lymphocytes - 15
Lymphocytes Absolute 1.1


Hepatic Panel
Albumin 2.7
Bilirubin Direct 0.21

Phosphorus Inorganic 2.2

If you need any other numbers that might say AHA, HE'S GOT EB, I'll provide them.

See, we just don't know if it's the flu, EB or whatever. I mean, he's alert, he's eating, he's drinking, he is just tired (which could be flu related or any virus related). Everybody around here has the flu (if that helps).

Thanks so much

Melody

Well, his blood counts are low...anemic. No wonder he is so tired. Levels that low will certainly make you feel very tired and run down.

Oh, just to update, Dr. Fred just texted me saying "It has to run it's course, everybody here in Brooklyn has the flu".

And he literally starved for the two weeks after he got this bug. He ate nothing and drank (well I don't know I wasn't here) but when I got home I found all the meals on wheels literally all over the apartment and in the fridge. It's like Alan became another human being with no orientation in his brain.

I threw out everything and now I give him gatorade and good food. Thankfully he made it into the kitchen (even though it was just for 15 minutes). Now he's fast asleep for the night. Never saw anyone who could sleep like this.

Melody

Physical Therapist was just here. I got all excited thinking I was going to start getting P/T. He says 'no, I'm just here to evaluate you". He checked my pressure, he watched me walk, he watched me move my left leg (bad hip part). He nodded and then announced "okay, you are approved for 5 visits. I shall send in my report. We start on Friday and you will get two visits a week until you reach 5 and then we re-evaluate you".

So in my opinion, today was a complete waste. lol

Whatever!!!

Melody

For lunch I gave him a roast beef sandwich with a little side of french fries and a big drink.

He wolfed that down like he hadn't eaten in days.

Then he went back to bed. He said his eyes hurt. His color is good. I gave him ibuprofen. He has no fever (never had).

Got to build him up. what else can I give him besides gatorade and roast beef. I can't go shopping because of my hip.

I have tuna and other stuff in the house and soup. Oh I got him some Quest low carb protein bars.

I'll give him one when he gets up.

He just is so tired.

Dr. Fred says this thing has to run its course.

Melody

HI Mel, I've been gone for a while and just logged on today after months of not being on. I just read this and I was very sad to hear. I wish you a speedy recovery and I hope you are ok? You have always been such a positive and supportive friend to me and so many others.🙏❤️

Hi there. How odd. I was going to come on these message boards today and here you already wrote to me. Hope you are okay.

Alan is back to his old self. Eating me out of house and home. Turns out he did not have the flu. Dr. Fred says he had either a rotavirus or an enterovirus. It was going around. Thank god I know how to take care of him. I am finished with physical therapy but I use a walker and a cane. I can't walk right if I don't use these devices. I have muscle spasms but I asked and I was told "you are using muscles that you weren't using so your body has to learn all over again.

They had warned me of this when I was in the rehab facility. It's annoying but hey, I'm not dead. So I live with this metal rod and pin in my hip hoping it doesn't move or get infected. Scares the bejesus out of me but nothing I can do. I am very careful with everything that I do.

So here's my question. How come if I walk with a walker I can walk straight. If I walk with a cane, my right arm hurts because I put all the weight on my right arm. I'm right handed. I look like a person who walks with a cane.

But......if I walk without any walker or cane.....I walk like a duck. I waddle back and forth. Reminds me of when I was pregnant. I walk like that.

Why can't I walk normally? I asked this of someone and he said "You are afraid to walk normally". I am???

Thanks for any input......anyone??

Melody

Sorry Melody, I can't answer your question on why you can't walk normally - but I am glad to hear that things are at least getting a little better for the both of you :)

Hi MelodyL

Glad to hear your recovery is progressing. As to why you can't walk normally without a walker or cane I'm guessing that it's a case of those muscles that have been 'rested' during your accident and post-surgical recovery now have to learn how to work again and rebuild their function and strength. It's only been just over 3 months since you were injured so you're doing really well considering what you've been through.

As to the person's comment about 'being afraid' to walk normally there may be a subconscious instinct that your body is not ready to support itself unaided. This should improve with time and practice. One thing I found after having a torn cartilage in my knee was that my leg instinctively wanted to turn inwards which altered my gait. When I became aware that this was happening I included exercises that specifically made me focus on keeping my foot straight (going up and down stairs). Doing this repeatedly corrected the problem.

By being conscious of how your whole body is moving you may find small things to work on that may help: for example - notice how your head and shoulders are positioned when you walk either with a cane or walker - are you tilting them forward - this often happens with walking aids - and then are you carrying the same position when you walk without the aids - this may affect your sense of balance. If this is happening try to remember to keep your head and shoulders up.

Please be kind to yourself - you're doing brilliantly - as well as working on your physical recovery make sure you take some time to just relax and do something you enjoy - not being stressed will help restore your confidence and that will help you walk better.

Take care :hug:

I'll tell you one thing. Stress is a killer. Changes your health and well being. I try now to find positive things to think about. Not easy.

I will however remember what you advised. To notice how I move my head, how I walk up the stairs, etc.

I know that when I go DOWN the stairs, I go down with the bad foot (the side of my left hip. Then I bring down the right. I don't go down the stairs like normal people. One foot over the other foot. Don't know if I'll ever do that.

When I go up the stairs (which is easier than going down), I found out that if I use my cane with my left hand and put my right hand on the bannister, I go up with my good right leg and bring up the other leg. I can't imagine going up with the foot that's part of the left leg.

I marvel how people get over these things. I'm afraid to cross the street after this. All these cars whizzing by.

Anyway, thanks for all the kind words ....to everyone who replied to me.

I really am trying.

Melody